Frequently asked questions

General Information

How do I access WorldShare Interlibrary Loan? You will need to create an account. Please follow the instructions here, and see this tutorial.

What are the browser requirements for WorldShare ILL? Functionality in the WorldShare Interlibrary Loan service is updated periodically. During these updates, the service is tested with specific browser versions to ensure the service functions correctly when used with different browsers. Please see the current browser requirements on this page.

How do I find my custom web address if I forget to bookmark it? You can return to the My Account page at https://share.worldcat.org/myaccount/. Under I have an OCLC Services account, click the WorldShare Interlibrary Loan button. On the Welcome screen, enter your symbol and click Continue. This will take you to your custom Web page. For further information, please see this tutorial.

What does WorldShare ILL do with my patrons' data after a request has been closed? For privacy and legal reasons, WorldShare ILL does not retain any patron data that could be used to identify an individual. Only Borrower Active Requests can be searched by Patron Name, Patron ID, and Local ID.

Can you give me an overview of the WorldShare Interlibrary Loan Home screen? The WorldShare ILL Home screen includes many helpful resources for your staff:

The Search box for finding requests.

Quick Links to your most-used request categories.

Links to other OCLC Services, such as the OCLC® Policies Directory, OCLC® Service Configuration, OCLC® Usage Statistics and OCLC® Article Exchange. Since you are already logged into WorldShare Interlibrary Loan, you will automatically be signed in to these other services once you click the links.Note: Access to OCLC Usage Statistics still requires a 9-digit resource sharing authorization.

Accounts

How do I find all the accounts associated with my WorldShare Interlibrary Loan custom web address? Within the Admin tab in WorldShare ILL, limit your search to Everything and search for ”*”. This search will find all accounts for your institution. For further information, please see this tutorial.

I work with more than one symbol. Can I use the same for account for both? No, but you can create an account with the same user name and password under each symbol. For further information, please see this tutorial.

If I change the password in one account, will it change the other one? No, you will need to manually manage and update those passwords separately.

Why do I have so many duplicate accounts? Can I delete accounts that I don’t need? How can I deactivate a user account? At this time, there is no way to completely delete an account, though this is planned as a future enhancement. The current best practice is to edit the user account to add “inactive” after the last name, so the status is visible in your list of user names. For further information, please see this tutorial.

What are some hints for creating new user accounts at my institution?To create an account:

Click the Admin tab at the top of the screen.

On the User Management screen, click New User. The following hints will be helpful in creating an account:

Under Contact Information, click the check box for Primary under Email Type.Note: It is best to use a person’s unique e-mail address and not a group e-mail address.

Under Circulation, if you choose a Home Branch, you will also need to enter a value for Barcode and Patron Type.

Under Identity Management, User Name needs to be unique. Don’t use a period in the User Name.

Set the Expiration Date at least five years in the future. Leave the Inactive check box unchecked.

Click Create.

Under Roles, click Edit.

Apply the following permissions, dependent on the user’s status:

Everyone: This is the default account level, but does not allow access to WorldShare Interlibrary Loan.Note: This check box should remain checked.

WORLDSHARE_ILL_ADMIN: This type of account is designed for library staff members who are responsible for creating or modifying other staff accounts for WorldShare Interlibrary Loan.

WORLDSHARE_ILL_USERS: This type of account is designed for most library staff using WorldShare Interlibrary Loan.

How do I change an account user name? Account names can be changed by selecting the user name and then clicking Edit under Basic User Data. However, this is not a currently-recommended practice due to account permissions that may be set for other products. For further information, please see this tutorial.

How can I make a user inactive?Follow this procedure:

Click the Admin tab at the top of the screen.

On the User Management screen, search for the user.

Click the user name from the list.

On the Basic User Data screen, click Edit.

Complete the following fields:

Add (Inactive) after the user’s name.

Uncheck the boxes under Email Type, and remove the e-mail address.

Change the Expiration Date to today’s date, and check the Inactive check box.

Under Roles, click Edit.

Click the check box to turn off the roles for Everyone, WORLDSHARE_ILL_ADMIN and WORLDSHARE_ILL_USER.

I forgot my password and the Set/reset password link is not working. How do I get access to my account again? The Set/reset password link sends a notification e-mail to the e-mail address associated with your account. Within that e-mail is a link which allows you to reset your password. If you do not receive an e-mail, please check the following:

Have someone in your library with the WORLDSHARE_ILL_ADMIN role check what e-mail is associated with your user name

Verify that Everyone is selected in Roles.

Verify that e-mail from *@oclc.org is not blocked by your e-mail filters.

How do I prevent staff from creating their own accounts? Currently, any staff person can create an account. But the best practice is for one staff member to act as an administrator to create other accounts.

Can I disable the Create new account link on the Sign In screen (on my custom Web page)? And since creating an account creates an ADMIN account, how do I know a staff member has created an account that I need to review? There is no way to disable the Create new account link. You can view all accounts under the Admin tab.

How can I track accounts that are updating requests? Currently, this level of detail is not available, but this functionality is planned as a future enhancement.

What is the difference between the WOLRLDSHARE_ILL_ADMIN and WORLDSHARE_ILL_USER Authorization levels? Do I need both? What is Everyone? What data can a user without ADMIN privileges change in their account? ADMIN privileges allow a user the ability to create new users, make changes to users accounts and disable accounts. Both the ADMIN and USER privilege levels allow staff members to perform normalnormal ILL activities. Everyone is the default account level for any user, but does not allow access to WorldShare Interlibrary Loan. Note: This check box should remain checked.

Why am I seeing circulation-related form boxes? WorldShare is a shared interface, so you may see some options that are available for other products and services.

Workflow

I am having issues with the copy request process. How can I confirm my settings, especially for IFM and article processing?

The following guidelines will assist you in completing these requests:

For best results, use OCLC® Article Exchange for electronic delivery of articles.Note: If Article Exchange is not used, any issues with attachments will have to be handled via email between the borrowing and lending libraries.

I accidentally marked a Book request as a Copy, so when the Borrower received it, the request closed as complete. How should we handle this type of situation? The borrower should notify the lender and discuss options to handle the request in the system. For example, the Borrower can send a new request for that same book to the Lender, with a note saying it is a duplicate request. Then the Lender can enter the appropriate Due Date and say Yes, but not actually ship the item. The Borrower will then return the item under the new request ID number.

Constant Data

How do I access OCLC Service Configuration? Administrative settings for WorldShare Interlibrary Loan are maintained in OCLC Service Configuration. Click the OCLC Service Configuration link under Other on the WorldShare Interlibrary Loan Home screen to go to OCLC Service Configuration. Then click your library name from the drop-down list, and click Go. For further information, please see this tutorial.

How do I access and create Constant Data? Once in OCLC Service Configuration, update the fields in the WorldShare ILL module under Borrower Data and Lender Data. Your current constant data records are listed in the drop-down lists at the top of each screen. For further details, see:

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